Apple set to help users to avoid texting the wrong person

Texting is a very practical way to communicate with others and most of us have grown so used to sending texts from our mobiles that we can type quickly and pretty much with our eyes closed. However, no matter how efficient you think you are when it comes to texting, it is advisable to pay full attention when you are sending a text. After all, a little distraction could cause a lot of embarrassment if you send a text to the wrong person by mistake. Unfortunately, even if you are completely focused in the message you are typing, you could end up pressing the wrong button and your text could end up in the wrong hands.

Apple has taken this into consideration and they may have come up with a solution. Their newly published patent would use visual reminders to make you aware of who you are texting to. The patent application describes a method that works in a very simple way: Whenever you send a text, the phone will identify the recipient and will show a picture associated to that person. The image could be the one that appears in your contacts or their Facebook profile. If there is no picture available, the proposed feature would select a general image.

As an additional option, a variety of colours could be used to differentiate the type of contacts (between family, friends or work colleagues) and the contact picture could be reduced or combined with a background colour. When you are taking part in a group conversation, the patent would display miniature versions of the participants’ pictures or these can be resized and fitted to the screen. To make sure that you od not miss the latest messages in the conversation, the picture of the person that sent the most recent text could be highlighted in a box or appear in bright colour while the others remain in the background in grey.

Even though it is not clear yet when is this feature going to be launched officially, it may be available when Apple’s new operating system iOS 8 is presented in the coming weeks during the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) an event that they host annually and that takes place in San Francisco.